Shillong, Aug 23: Meghalaya’s Education department is planning to reopen schools and colleges across the state from September 1, 2021.

In this regard, it has recommended its views to the committee on reopening of schools and colleges headed by the Chief Minister.

The department has already chalked out a plan on the way it plans to reopen the educational institutes.

After a meeting of the department on the recommendations, Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui said the department is currently waiting for the committee to give its approval.

Rymbui has been very vocal about reopening of schools and has maintained that online classes cannot replace classroom learning.

Recommendations for reopening educational institute 

Colleges in both urban and rural areas can be opened.

For classes 9-12 can be opened in both rural and urban areas.

For classes 6-8, in urban areas there can only be school visits and in rural they can start opening up.

For classes 1-5, in urban areas the classes will continue to be online, while in rural areas school visits will be allowed.

Schools and colleges in Meghalaya have remained closed since March 2020, since the onset of first wave of COVID-19. The educational institutes were reopened in early 2021 but were shut down due to the second wave of the pandemic.